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Joseph Priestley | 📜 Letter from Ben Franklin | Birstall, England #batley #leeds #science #history

10 Aug 2025 · 2 min

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2:09

In this narrated video, the speaker stands in the West Yorkshire village of Birstall, the little‑known birthplace of the 18th‑century chemist and theologian Joseph Priestley. While admiring Priestley’s statue, the narrator reflects on the astonishing breadth of Priestley’s scientific achievements, recalling that the American polymath Benjamin Franklin wrote him a heartfelt letter in 1780. The letter praises Priestley’s ongoing experimental work, celebrates his short paper on the Aurora Borealis, and expresses hope that his research will inspire further inquiry. The speaker then extrapolates from this Enlightenment exchange to imagine humanity’s future: the removal of gravity from large objects, dramatically more productive agriculture, the eradication of disease, dramatically extended lifespans, and the moral evolution needed for people to act humanely. Throughout, the narration blends historical facts, direct quotations from Franklin’s letter, and speculative optimism about scientific and moral progress.

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Here I am in West Yorkshire in the village of Birstall. A town not many people have heard of and the birthplace of a person that not many people have heard of, at least not today in the 21st century. But I think the list of achievements Joseph Priestley made during his lifetime is quite unbelievable. Until I came across his statue here, I knew him as the person Ben Franklin wrote this beautiful letter to in the year 1780, which I always love reading. I'm always happy to hear that you're still engaged in experimental research into the natural world and that you're having success with it. The rapid pace of true scientific progress these days sometimes makes me wish I had been born later. It's impossible to imagine how far humanity's control over matter might advance in 1,000 years. We might one day figure out how to remove gravity from large objects, making them completely weightless for easy transport. Farming could become far less labor-intensive while producing twice as much food. All diseases might be prevented or cured. Even old age and human lifespans extended at will, perhaps even beyond the biblical ages. If only moral science were improving just as quickly so that people would stop acting like wolves towards each other and humanity would truly learn what it means to be humane. I'm glad my short paper on the Aurora Borealis was well received. If it inspires further investigation and leads to a better explanation, it will not be wholly useless. I am ever with the greatest and most sincere esteem, dear sir. Yours very affectionately, Ben Franklin.